The Dawn of an Angel
by Icarus-Katz
Summary: I'm revamping it, so I'll just replace the chapters as I go. Based loosely on the ideas of angelology and demonology. A fantasy story about teenagers with extraordinary power and responsibility. Please R&R. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

Hey! I know I haven't edited this in a while. I got frustrated with it, and I'm kinda revamping it. So, if you've read it before, I hope you like this version better. I'm looking for all critiques, comments, and comparisons.

Hope you enjoy. Please R & R.

**Disclaimer: **First off, I do not own the Bible, or anything else I may have referenced in my writing. I own my story; that is all. Secondly, I do not mean to offend anyone with my slightly unconventional take on religion. My story doesn't necessarily reflect my religious views, and it is certainly not meant to tell anyone how to think about faith.

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**Prologue**

In the beginning – not of the universe, but of time as we know it – a solar eclipse begat six beings, three of light and three of darkness. These celestials laid down the balance of good and evil, the morals of the human race, and the laws that filter into all religious ideals. The four beings of light – the Guardians – attempted to step back, to allow evolution to unfold on its own. However, the creatures of darkness – the Umbriae, or Shadows – strove to throw the world into turmoil, and the two groups began an eternal battle, a war not able to end until the last moments of the Apocalypse. There was a prophecy that the Balance would forever preserve the war until the advent of beings who could lead the two forces to a final encounter and tip the Balance permanently to either good or evil.

The Archangels – Raphael, Michael, and Uriel – allowed the circulation of deific legends, hero stories that provided a front for their actions. The principle demons – Astaroth, Samael, and Berith – however, continued to sow greed and enmity into the souls of the most fallible race. As human civilization progressed, the immortal beings possessed members of each successive generation. Once their human forms faded away, the angels – and their demon counterparts – stepped back, watching until suitable vessels were born. The battles of these gods were chronicled in history; the Maccabees against Antiochus, the Carthaginians against the Romans in the Punic Wars, the English against the French in the Battle of Hastings, the Allied versus the Axis powers in World War II. Each historical era has witnessed the conflict, blissfully unaware of the true meaning of each bloody battle.

However, with the advent of technological advances and the heightening of tension between the two forces, the human race gradually became more cognizant of the ensuing war. The three Guardians and the three Umbriae battled on, but waywardly. None had enough will or strength to lead the groups. All victories were fruitless, leading only to more battles and the deaths of the mortal vessels. The divinities searched in vain for humans with the strength to permanently absorb their power. Pressure came to an unprecedented head when the six celestials destroyed each other in an epic battle. All of the wielders of divine power were bodiless for the first time since the Beginning. Power like never before was released into the world, seething and roiling in the ether – growing. The Balance skewed, ricocheting back and forth without these reigning forces, and lacking a guiding power to teach the successors, the eternal battle was suspended, waiting for six humans fit to wield powers of the angels and demons.

Unbeknownst to the original celestial beings, the turmoil of their power spawned two more beings – one of light and one of dark, both more powerful than any that had come before.


	2. Chapter 1

**The Dawn of an Angel **

**Disclaimer: **First off, I do not own the Bible, or Vergil's _Aeneid, _or any of Martial's poetry, or anything else I may have referenced in my writing. I own my story; that is all. Secondly, I do not mean to offend anyone with my slightly unconventional take on religion. My story doesn't necessarily reflect my religious views, and it is certainly not meant to tell anyone how to think about faith.

Here's the first installment. Let me know what you think. I'll try to update again soon. Please R&R!

And thank you to snowmandancer. I appreciate your taking the time to review!

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**Chapter One **

At six o'clock on a Friday night, most of the lights in the school were out, most of the doors empty. On the third floor, in a corner in the hallway, a teenage girl sat tucked in a chair, her beat-up sneakers resting on her desk. At about average height, she had straight, dark brown hair, cropped short, and an almost-boyish figure. Freckles covered her face, and her deep green eyes radiated with the insight of more years than the eighteen she currently had under her belt.

_I'm such a dork._ She smiled to herself as she poured over a loose translation of one of Martial's epigrams.

"Rebecca!" The girl's head shot up. "Becca, you dork! Get your nose out of your Latin for a while." A smiling girl sauntered into the classroom. The girl's dirty-blonde hair shone under the fluorescent school lights, and her bright blue eyes flashed as she winked at Rebecca.

"Lara, what are you still doing here?" Rebecca sighed and put away her notebooks, standing up, her eyes level with Lara's forehead.

"Waiting for you, silly." Lara laughed, dragging Rebecca out of the room. "You need to take a deep breathe. We're going to get some dinner."

Rebecca walked slowly, putting slight resistance up against Lara's pull. "I just need to finish my homework. I'm going to be busy all day tomorrow with the Roman Poetry Conference."

Lara rolled her eyes. "Well, you can't go if you don't eat tonight, so come on!" She stuck her tongue out, and beckoned to Rebecca. "You're driving."

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Rebecca leaned back in her chair, smiling as she watched Lara gulp down the rest of her clam chowder. As Lara licked her lips and ran her spoon around the bowl, the other girl found herself studying the way the light played across her friend's face. _Wow, she is so…_Catching herself, Rebecca looked down at her plate and blushed.

Her concentration shifted, Lara reached over and poked the girl sitting across from her. "What's wrong? You nervous that you won't wow the other kids with your translating prowess?"

Rebecca smiled weakly, "Yeah, I guess." She scratched the back of her neck self-consciously. "It's going to be a long day."

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Sitting on her porch as the sun rose, Rebecca stared thoughtfully at her hands. _Why am I so tense? _Silence hung on the air – no birds, no soft morning noises – portending a day with more adventure than she would prefer. She numbly wolfed down a breakfast of scrambled eggs and coffee, then hopped in her car.

On her way to the Roman Poetry Conference, Rebecca pulled into the driveway of a small brick house. Walking hurriedly out of the car, she rapped on the door, tapping her foot impatiently.

A tall, slim, curly-haired boy poked his head groggily out of the door. Rubbing his brown eyes, the boy blinked at Rebecca for a few moments, then stumbled out of the door. "Becca," he whined, "_Why _exactly are we leaving at six AM to talk about dead poets?"

She smiled, ignoring the boy, and pushed him back to the car. "Come on, Isaac. You know you're excited." Isaac grumbled, putting on his seatbelt, then promptly fell asleep, snoring as Rebecca drove. Once she pulled into a parking spot, she shook him awake, laughing softly. The two walked to the entrance of the big public school in their area, with a sign that said "Roman Poetry Conference" in purple block letters. After signing in, they made the way to their assigned room.

Opening the door, they peered into a bare room with a rectangular plastic table, four chairs on each of the long sides. _Well. _Rebecca grimaced, sizing up the four students already sitting. _This looks bleak. _On one side of the table, a girl sat alone. She had dark skin, dark hair, and darker eyes which contrasted with her unbelievably bright smile.

She extended a hand. "Hey, my name's Rachel Baldwin. Nice to meet you."

Rebecca sighed, shaking Rachel's hand. _At least someone's friendly._ "Nice to meet you too. I'm Rebecca Dalry," She looked at Isaac, who waved sleepily, "And this is my friend Isaac Cohen."

The three teens at the other side of the table did not offer their hands for shaking, but sullenly recited their names. Two olive-skinned kids, twins, were Karen and Philip Ackart, and a pale, bleach-blonde boy with steely blue eyes introduced himself as Lucas Bellamont.

Rebecca and Isaac took seats next to Rachel, and the six of them had just started tossing interpretations of Vergil's _Aeneid _back and forth when another pair burst into the room. The girl, a blue-eyed wisp of a thing with a bobbing brown ponytail, gasped, "I am _so _sorry we're late! We got stuck in traffic, and then we just could not find a parking spot, and then that bitter old woman at the front desk had to yell at us for being late, and then we had to find the room." She paused, finally, to breath, "By the way, I'm Mara Callaghan, and this," She pointed to the tall, dark-haired boy standing next to her, "is my boyfriend, Justin Berkeley." Justin looked around, not even cracking a smile, his dark eyes taking in his surroundings.

Rebecca pulled out the chair next to her's as Mara sat down. "Great! Well, let's get started." The eight of them moved back to fighting through the _Aeneid_, but it was a struggle. Mara swooned over her boy, who ignored her. Karen chuckled to her twin and argued with everything Rachel and Rebecca suggested. Isaac just snored.

"Karen, I really don't think that's an ablat-" Rebecca stopped, mid-sentence.

"What?" Karen snapped, glaring across the table, "What were you going to say?"

Rebecca paused, staring intently at her book. "There's this bizarre note at the bottom of my page. Do any of you have this?" She lifted up her book and pointed at the words. The others all shook their heads no, except for Karen, who smirked as she saw the same note. The two girls both mumbled to themselves, not noticing anything else, trying to translate the phrase. Slowly, unintentionally, they recited it together: "Divinites experge et tuos fatos comperi."

Once she finished, Rebecca looked up quickly, as the room began to spin, and finally went black.


	3. Chapter 2

Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. Enjoy, and again, please R&R.

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**Chapter 2**

Rebecca groaned as she rolled onto her back, her entire body aching. The ground she lay on sent chills through her, its hardness adding bruises on top of the soreness. She ran a hand lightly over her throbbing head, then grudgingly opened up her eyes. _Where am I? _

The Roman Poetry Conference had disappeared. Rebecca lay in the middle of an open courtyard, made entirely of white stone. Although she was out in the open, she could not see the sky – only white. She stood up slowly, brushing herself off, and looked around. The pale marble stretched as far as she could see. Rebecca stared up at a lofty, solemn building; a palace, but without the cheer and extravagant trappings. The stone walls of the castle surrounded three sides of the courtyard, the fourth framed by a tall, open arch. The design of the palace staged a fight between the striking and the practical; beautiful stained-glass windows juxtaposed with slits in the rock wide enough only for a deadly arrow; intricate architectural features topping purely Spartan towers.

Rebecca wandered aimlessly into the main structure, her eyes darting every which way. _What is this place? _She walked through room after room of murals and painted ceilings, all in black, white and gray, depicting epic battles between angels and known tales from countless religions. _Strange. _She puzzled over the engravings, which altered key aspects of some of the stories. Instead of an omnipotent god molding the Earth or dictating the Ten Commandments, four winged beings lorded over all. In place of some great evil creature, four demons wreaked havoc on the world, and the serpent of Eve's fall was accompanied by a raven, a rat, and a frog – in fact, the raven seemed to be doing all the talking. The most accurately portrayed stories came from the Greek and Roman traditions, while most of the Hebrew and Christian myths were heavily altered.

Rebecca found herself in a long, lonely hall. She could scarcely see the strangely-bare ceiling, which towered high above her head, fading almost into non-existence. The room had none of the intricate architecture or detailed murals of the rest of the palace. However, the walls were covered with hundreds of paintings. Each piece, enclosed by a plain gold frame, depicted a different set of four people. In each one, the four stood in the same formation, with the same severe expressions. The first painting, closest to Rebecca and the door, held three men and one woman, all with pure white wings, wearing long, flowing silver robes. Unlike the other sets of people, these four had peaceful, joyous expressions on their faces as they looked to the sky, as if the world was devoid of negative influences. As she made her way through the hall, each group became more and more morose, and their dress and manner became more modern, each painting seemingly of a different generation. Rebecca paused in front of the last frame, standing empty. _I wonder who paints these, who's supposed to be in this frame. _

At this end of the hall, on a raised dais, stood a dark, mahogany table with four matching, throne-like chairs, covered in elaborate carvings. The seat of each chair had a different bird fashioned deep into the wood, and each back held a different mythological creature. An eagle, its wings spread open, opposed a majestic dragon in the same position. On the right of the eagle stood a dove, its pure beauty mirrored by the phoenix on the back of the chair. To the left of the eagle, a owl gazed up at the plain ceiling; its counterpart, the Roc, sat in great contrast to the steady owl, glaring fiercely, daring any to try its strength. A hawk, its beak open and gaping, flew on the seat of the final chair, across from the eagle. The back of the hawk's chair held a gryphon, its beak and head held in the same aggressive position as its hawk equivalent.

Rebecca traced her hand along the carvings, staring at each intently. _What **is **all of this? _Her face flushed as she became more and more frustrated. Her eyes fell onto an inscription that winded its way around the entire circle of the table: "Patroni aurorae et vesperis, in sideribus reperimus nostros animas." _Protectors of dawn – what is all of this? I'm getting out of here_. Rebecca strode back down the hall, shoving the door open. Hurriedly finding her way out of the castle, she paced up and down the courtyard, looking for a way out. As she turned around and around, seeing only white ground and white sky, she felt her body grow hotter and hotter, the frustration boiling into anger. _Where the **hell** am I? _She kneeled onto the ground, her head spinning and aching, her eyes screwed tight, clenching her fists as she tried to calm herself.

Rebecca's eyes flew open when she felt the shock of heat move past her. She looked up, but the white idyllic scenery had disappeared, replaced by a torrent of fire. The landscape stretched, black and scarred by burns. Trees stood scorched, buildings worn down by flames. Orange waves poured across the ground, surrounding Rebecca, but not touching her. _This fire is going to destroy everything_. The flames raged everywhere, with neither a beginning nor an end in sight. _How is this happening? _She glanced wildly around, her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest. She dashed around within the small circle of land not consumed by the fire, searching in vain for a means to stop it. She fell down on her knees, shaking in frustration and fear, her head bursting with pain, willing the flames to fade away. Rebecca closed her eyes as the swells came closer and closer, beginning to pass over her body. She braced herself, but the fires that had destroyed everything didn't seem to affect her. The pain began to overcome her, as she blacked out again.

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I don't really love the ending (and by ending, I mean, literally, the last sentence). I'm sorry to end on a bit of a cliff-hanger, but I didn't want the chapter to be tediously long. Please tell me what you think, and if you have any suggestions. 


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